L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS example is the Enzo car, of w h i c h w e c o m m e r c i a l i z e d only 399 cars; the 400th was donated to the Pope before b e i n g a u c t i o n e d t o r a i s e money for a good cause," Pig- natti Morano explains. E a c h t a i l o r - m a d e c a r i s u n i q u e a n d c u s t o m i z e d , including the interior materi- als and colors. At the Museo Enzo Ferrari, you'll find the collection "One of A Kind." Each year, on February 18th, Enzo Ferrari's birthday, a new exhibit opens and lasts for a full year: the display cele- brates the craftsmanship of each masterpiece emerging from the Maranello factory gates and reveals the exclusiv- ity of these one-of-a-kind cars, each expressing the personali- ty, taste, and desires of indi- vidual Ferrari owners. With more than 740,000 visitors in 2023, the goal of the museum is to provide an unforgettable experience for e v e r y o n e . " T h i s i s a g r e a t challenge. Our museums are a l w a y s o p e n , e x c e p t f o r Christmas and New Year. We w a n t t o g i v e o u r f a n s a n unforgettable time; many of them travel from far away. When it comes to displaying our cars, there are no safety barriers between them and visitors. It doesn't matter the cost of the car; you'll always get to see them up close. Most of our cars come from private collectors who work with us to get their cars displayed." At the moment, an area is d e d i c a t e d t o a t e m p o r a r y exhibition, "Roaring 50s," on the history of the Modena street circuit, used between the 1950s and 1976 when the last motorcycle Grand Prix took place. Indeed, there was a time when even small towns had their own autodromo or racetrack. We can see here Taruffi's car, which brings us all the way back to the years of the Mille Miglia, a car race held on public roads in Italy from 1927 to 1957: its name in Italian means "one thousand miles," and the number you s e e o n e a c h c a r s h o w s t h e exact time when the car start- ed the race so judges could k n o w t h e a m o u n t o f t i m e taken to complete it. With visitors increasingly enthusiastic about the Ferrari brand, especially in the US, the museum became part of a brand-new initiative launched by Airbnb, the Silicon Valley company offering short-term r e n t a l s . " T h e d e c i s i o n t o become one of the Airbnb I c o n s w a s m a d e w i t h t h e i d e a o f e x p e r i e n c i n g t h e museum in a new, different way. Our museum is the clos- est you can be to our cars: vis- iting and getting to sleep sur- rounded by our racing cars is like a night at the museum: you go to the Gran Premio in Imola, followed by dinner at a special place, Il Cavallino restaurant, before spending the night at the Sale delle Vit- torie, where all trophies are shown." Pignatti Morano con- t i n u e s : " T h e s e t u p o f t h i s exhibition room changes to arrange the bed and create the perfect atmosphere for guests. We are very proud of being part of this project as it's amazing to offer some- thing special without dimin- ishing the value of the brand." When Enzo Ferrari created the logo, he added the giallo M o d e n a b e c a u s e h e w a s proud of his connection to the land. He opened the factory here, investing in the local economy and jobs. "Today, we are pushing this project fur- ther through the 'Discover Ferrari and Pavarotti's Land' p r o g r a m , w i t h a s t o p a t Luciano Pavarotti's house, which stands between our museum and the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena. Addi- tionally, visitors can taste local foods and ingredients, from Parmigiano Reggiano to Prosciutto di Modena and local aceto balsamico. A full experience around the land, the history of Modena, and its surroundings, with special attention to what's local and off the beaten path." W e c o n c l u d e d t h e v i s i t with a look at one of the most i m p o r t a n t e x h i b i t s i n t h e museum, the P4, one of the cars that won the Daytona race in 1967, at a time when Enzo Ferrari refused the offer to be acquired by Ford. We also experienced the semi- professional simulator and felt the exhilaration of driving a Prancing Horse F1 single- seater. It was a moment to experience what Enzo Ferrari used to say: "Every Ferrari is a dream; a dream that never stops evolving." Then and now. "Enzo Ferrari always considered the most important part of the car to be the machi- ne frame, which he used to build himself, then the coach builders would do the rest. Enzo was like the tailor of a beautiful dress," says Museum director Pignatti Morano CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 Enzo Ferrari in a photo portrait exhibited in his Casa Museo in Modena (Photo: Fabrizio Annovi/Dreamstime) A beautiful Ferrari stands out against the "giallo Modena" of the company logo (Photo: Yorgy67/Dreamstime)

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